In the Blink of an Eye
by PotionChemist
Summary: Sometimes, things just happen in the blink of an eye. Christmas Eve, during Deathly Hallows.


**This was written for the Strictly Dramione Christmas fest, and I never cross-posted it. Thank you to smithandbarrowman for giving it a read ahead of time! **

* * *

It all happened so fast.

People always said the worst things could happen in the blink of an eye, and since the war had begun, he had learned it first hand.

One moment, she was standing there, and the next, she was gone.

Gone.

No chestnut curls, no wide doe eyes. Just empty space where she'd been only a fraction of a second ago.

—

_ It was Christmas Eve, and Potter had insisted we come to Godric's Hollow. And then he'd insisted we follow Bathilda Bagshot, even when I told him it felt wrong, that I could sense the dark magic hovering around her. _

_ And as always, Granger had rushed into danger with Saint Scarhead. _

_ I followed her, wanting to be there to help her, to save her, when things inevitably went wrong. Her curls bounced as she walked, and I could feel the tension radiating off of her in waves. She didn't like this anymore than I did. _

_ When she looked over her shoulder at me, my heart skipped a beat. _

—

I stood frozen under the Invisibility Cloak Granger had given to me, just staring at the spot where she'd been a handful of seconds ago. The house felt laced with anti-Apparition wards, but she had to have Disapparated, right?

How else could she have disappeared so fast?

I wondered what this meant for me — she had been the only one to treat me decently since I'd defected, always making sure I wasn't completely isolated. When Weasley had accused me of being a spy, she'd come to my defense. It was so unexpected, but it made me believe I could change. If she thought I could, I had to make myself really stick to it. I couldn't let her down.

As my eyes move back to where she had been standing, I feel panic and grief and anger all at once.

—

_ When we'd entered the old woman's house, I knew. I knew for certain something was wrong. She was talking to Potter somehow, likely through Legilimency since he'd never bothered to learn Occlumency properly, and he followed her blindly, so trusting and fucking stupid. _

_ And then he told Granger to stay behind, and she'd looked at me for guidance. _

_ But who was I to overrule Potter? _

_ I met her eyes and moved closer. As soon as Potter left the room, I said, "We need to get out of here. We need to get him out of here." _

_ She nodded at me. "I can feel it. It's dark here." _

_ "Nevermind the smell," I replied, wrinkling my nose. _

_ And she smiled in agreement, completely distracting me from the mission at hand. _

—

As I quickly contemplated what could've happened to her, where she could've gone, valuable seconds tick by. I measure time by the beats of my heart, the pounding in my ears.

In that moment, I'm so mad I'd wasted seconds thinking about what this meant for me.

What the fuck did it mean for _ her _?

What magical force had sucked her to another location? Where was she now?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I broke the silence, screaming, "Granger? Where the fuck are you?"

I didn't get a response, but I felt a presence I had never wanted to feel again — Voldemort was in my vicinity, and he was pissed.

I felt the wards fall, felt everything grow clearer in my mind. I put the Invisibility Cloak back on.

—

_ "So what's the plan?" I asked her, hoping she had one. _

_ Granger sighed. "I'm going to follow him. This isn't right." She reached into her bag and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak. "Take this and follow me. I don't want her to feel threatened by the three of us. She may think I'm just a helpless little girl." _

_ I raised an eyebrow at her. "Anyone who knows who you are knows you're anything but helpless, Granger." _

_ She smiled again, her lips quirking up the smallest amount. _

_ "Thank you, Malfoy," she answered. "You'd do well to remember your own words." _

__ _ And I knew she was teasing me, so I didn't retort. _

—

That monstrous snake slithered down the hall, coming towards me. I was invisible, but I was sure she could smell me, could smell my fear.

But she stopped at the door, scanned the room with her eyes, and moved on.

I heard Voldemort's voice, hissing at her in Parseltongue, and then he roared, his madness crashing over him in waves.

"Slipped through my fingers again! How is it even possible? How is he still alive?"

That settled it.

Potter and Granger were gone. They'd left me behind with nothing but this cloak and a wand.

—

_ "And what am I supposed to do under this cloak, Granger? If I shoot spells, it'll be useless. It'll give my location away." _

_ She rolled her eyes at me, and I focused on her face. She had freckles, and her curls were starting to frizz out since they'd gotten wet with falling snow earlier. Looking at her mouth, I could see her lips were dry and chapped, likely since we'd not had a proper meal or shelter in months. _

_ "—don't cast anything unless it's absolutely necessary. If something happens to Harry and me, you need to keep going. Find the Horcruxes and kill him, Draco." _

_ So Gryffindor, planning her own sacrifice and making sure someone would continue the foolish mission when she was gone. _

_ I just nodded, unable to speak. I was so mesmerized by her, examining every detail of her face like this was the last time I'd ever have the chance. _

_ "If we get separated, please meet us in the Forest of Dean," Granger said. "My first priority has to be keeping Harry safe and getting him out of here." _

—

When I finally fucking remembered what she'd said, I hated myself. She'd had a plan all along. This was the plan. She had known she would vanish without me.

Voldemort was still in the house, hissing and throwing a temper tantrum. Nagini was probably trying to calm him. I couldn't make a move until he was gone, and I prayed Granger would wait for me in the Forest of Dean.

I knew how to find her, how to feel her wards. They had been a part of me since the day I realised this strange bond, strange connection I felt with her.

I wondered if she felt it, too.

—

_ We walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, trying to find Potter and Bathilda. Granger paused in front of me, and I saw her trembling. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back into my body so I could whisper in her ear. _

__ _ "Everything is fine. We're going to get Potter and get the hell out of here. You're brilliant and brave, and I'm here with you. I'm cunning and can get us out of most situations. We're a good team." _

_ I felt her relax a fraction, settling against me. _

_ "Okay. You're right. We can do this," she murmured. "Between the two of us, we can get out of anything." _

_ My heart thudded hard in my chest. _

—

When Voldemort left, I made my way out of the house and into the lane.

I thought of Granger, of the Forest of Dean, of how she'd told me about how she and her parents had camped there together.

She had to have Potter. She wouldn't have vanished otherwise — she'd somehow gone to him when I blinked, and I hadn't heard them leave.

Granger would never leave without him. They were inseparable. Even when Weasley, the git that she thinks she loves, asked her to come with him, she wouldn't.

She wouldn't abandon Harry Potter.

Jealousy roiled in my stomach at the thought, but I choked it back, turning my focus back to Apparition.

I spun on the spot, imagining tents and curls and a specky git with horrid hair, hoping I'd find my way back to her.

—

_ Granger stepped forwards, moving up the stairs once more. We heard a crashing sound, and she leapt into action, her inner lioness unleashed. I stood and watched like an invisible fucking knob as she fought to free Potter, casting curses and hexes one by one. The snake finally fell to the floor, likely unconscious, but Potter's wand — his fucking holly and phoenix feather wand — had been broken, and he was also knocked out. _

_ "Malfoy!" she shouted. "Malfoy, help me! We need to move the snake!" _

_ In tandem, we carried the disgusting thing to the other room, and that was when it had happened. _

_ I had frozen, blinked, and she was gone. I was near the windows, and she was near the door, and she must have raced out. _

—

When I land in the Forest of Dean, I don't feel anything. No wards, no Granger. Nothing.

How was it possible to feel nothing around me and everything inside of me? Fear, anger, disgust… all of it in my chest. How could I have frozen like that? It wasn't the first time I'd been in a shit situation.

And then I realised I was in a fucking forest, and it's likely pretty big.

I started to wander, moving through the trees, looking for any sign of them. I was still wearing Potter's cloak, and I saw movement in the distance.

A pink knit hat. Curls. A small, fit body.

Granger crouched down, leaning over Potter's still unconscious body. She was murmuring spells, and I quickly moved towards her. She was so focused she didn't hear my footsteps. I whipped the cloak off.

"Granger!" I shouted. "You're out in the open and You-Know-Who was just in the same bloody house as us!"

She startled and jumped, but her eyes filled with relief at the sight of my face.

"Draco," she said, and I inhaled the cold air sharply. "Thank Godric you're okay. I didn't want to leave without you, but I knew we didn't have much time and—"

"I'm fine, Granger," I replied. "Go put your wards up, and I'll tend to this idiot and put up the tent."

She nodded quickly and started casting the protection spells, warding our small clearing like it was the damn Ministry of Magic.

I got Potter into the tent and removed the Horcrux from his body, setting it on the dining table. I felt sick, holding a piece of Voldemort's soul in my hand, and I had never wanted anything more than I wanted the Sword of Gryffindor in that moment.

I wanted to deal a blow to the monster that had killed my mother and turned my father into an empty shell.

All the while, I thought of Granger, of how she'd been such an unexpected source of comfort and understanding.

— — —

_ "We have a recently defected Death Eater joining us tonight," Remus Lupin said, and the Order members all looked shocked. _

_ I had gone to the Order as soon as I was able to walk on my own. When I'd failed to kill Dumbledore, I'd been tortured, forced to watch my mother's gruesome death, and then beaten within an inch of my life. _

_ My father had sat by and watched the whole thing, never moving to protect either of us. Azkaban has stripped him of everything that made him who he was, leaving only the brainless follower of Lord Voldemort. _

_ Lupin continued speaking. "Harry has vouched for him since he was present on the Astronomy Tower when Dumbledore was killed. Please do not make his life difficult. It is hard to make these choices as an adult, nevermind as a teenager." _

_ When I walked into the room, Ron Weasley had a violent reaction, screaming that I had let Death Eaters in and couldn't be trusted. Granger, looking so different than she had at school, laid a hand on his arm and tried to calm him. He just shook her off. _

_ "Silencio!" she roared, and his voice died. "Ronald, Harry told us what happened that night, and Remus just asked you not to make his life more difficult. Enough is enough!" _

_ She turned to me, looking like she was waiting for me to say something horrible. I had no words, only gratitude that she was willing to give me a chance. _

_ "Thank you, Granger," I said, and she just nodded and took her seat, leaving Weasley silenced and glaring at me. _

— — —

A few hours later, Potter woke and she told him about his wand. He's immediately pissed at her, like it was her fault, and stormed out of the tent with her wand clutched in his hand. When I looked over at her, I saw the tears gathering in her eyes.

I stood and walked over to her and did something completely unexpected — I wrapped her into a hug and held her close to my body. She was stiff for a moment and then relaxed, taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms around me.

"It's okay, Granger. He's just upset. Anyone who lost their wand would be. He's not actually mad at you," I said, trying to soothe her.

She sniffled. "I know. I just — it was all too much tonight. The whole mission, and then saving Harry and having to leave you behind, and I feel like I've been on edge for days."

"You have. You've been so busy trying to keep Potter alive that you've not taken care of yourself."

She squeezed me a bit tighter, like I was the only thing tethering her to this world. "I know. You're the only one who notices, though. You're the only one who tries to get me to rest or stop reading for a bit or tries to take my mind off things," she whispered.

"Someone's got to. We need you to defeat him, Hermione."

Her face turns up, and I look down at her, memorizing her face again. The look is different this time, though. Of course the freckles and her hair and her lips look the same, but her expression is open and completely different.

— — —

_ "We're going to be leaving, you know," Granger said casually, sitting beside me on the ground at the Burrow. _

_ I looked over at her. "Who?" _

_ "Well, Harry and Ron and I will all be going, I suppose," she stated. _

_ I felt the world tilt a bit. Over the past weeks, she'd kept me sane. She was one of the only people who went out of her way to talk to me. _

_ "Where will you go?" I asked. _

_ She sighed. "We have a mission. But I think you could help me, Malfoy. I think I'm going to ask Harry if you can come along, too." _

_ Shrugging, I said, "I'll follow you. It's not like I'm doing much around here." _

_ She smiled and nodded. "Good. Harry and Ron are rubbish at research, and I have a feeling this is going to take more time than they're anticipating." _

— — —

As the seconds passed, I felt something shift between us. We were holding each other, looking into each other's eyes, and something just _ changed _. She felt it, too — her breath hitched, and her eyes fell on my lips.

Of course, I'd had my fair share of witches look at me this way, but I'd never imagined that Hermione Granger would, even if I'd imagined kissing her a hundred times since the beginning of the summer.

I wanted to lean down and just do it, but I couldn't. What if it was just the adrenaline and need for close comfort driving this?

I moved my hand to the back of her head and nudged her towards my chest, holding her close, but not allowing myself to kiss her.

— — —

_ "Malfoy," Potter said in greeting. _

_ I put on the voice I hadn't used in months — the haughty one from school — and sneered. "Potter." _

_ "Hermione says she thinks you'd be useful on our mission. Do you actually want to come with us or is she making that up?" he asked. _

_ I thought for a moment. Did I want to go with them? Did I want to voluntarily spend time with the trio? _

_ No, not particularly with the trio… but with Granger, the answer would be yes. She was fascinating. And she was actually attractive, running around the Burrow in her little Muggle outfits and trainers. _

_ "I'm not of any help here, Potter. If she needs me to read through that portable library she's carrying, I'd be more than willing to do so," I replied. "She said you and Weasley aren't much for research." _

_ "We're not," he admitted. "I need to know that you're serious about this, though. What we're doing… it won't be easy." _

_ "After what I've been through in the past year, it can't be all that bad," I said, and he nodded. _

_ "Give whatever you want to take to Hermione. She's been packing," he stated before walking away. _

— — —

We stood there like that for several moments. I felt her relaxing, her breathing evening out. When she pulled away, she looked up at me again.

"Thank you," she began. "I needed that. It feels like it's been ages since…"

Her cheeks flushed, and it was adorable.

"Since…?"

Clearing her throat, she said, "Since anyone's held me like that. It was… comforting. Nice. I… liked it."

She was flustered — rambling — and it made my chest fill with something new.

Hope.

— — —

_ She had just told me about the Horcruxes, and I was racking my brain, trying to recall if I'd seen any others in the Manor. When I learned of the diary my father had slipped to Ginny Weasley, I'd felt ashamed. _

_ Rather than blame me, though, Granger had taken my hand and reassured me that my father's faults were not mine. _

_ "I don't think I've seen a cup like that," I told her. "But I do know that my aunt often said the Dark Lord has entrusted something precious to her. I'm not sure where it will be since she was in Azkaban for so many years." _

_ Granger nodded, and a few tendrils of hair escaped her messy knot. "That makes sense. I'll put a note down. And this locket? It was Slytherin's, so I'm sure your father would've bragged about it." _

_ I snorted a laugh. "Of course he would've. But no, I've not seen that either." _

_ She seemed disappointed, and I hoped it wasn't in me. _

— — —

"It was nice," I said, agreeing with her. And then my mouth gets away from me. "You fit perfectly against me."

I felt the heat rush to my face, and she grinned.

"I do fit right under your chin. It's definitely perfect," she replied, making me feel a bit better.

And then, unexpectedly, she stepped closer again, wrapping her arms around my neck.

I hugged her close again, but she wouldn't allow me to tuck her head against my chest. Instead, she started to stand on her tiptoes, and I froze once more, time standing still.

I blinked.

I hoped she wouldn't disappear again.

— — —

_ It was the day of Bill Weasley's wedding, and I was disguised as a Weasley cousin, just like Potter was. It felt wrong standing there with red hair and freckles, but I couldn't be seen as myself. _

_ And then I saw Granger in a red dress, her hair tamed but still curly. Still like her, but completely elevated and gorgeous. _

_ Krum was chatting her up, and she was smiling. Weasley got jealous and cut in, taking her to the dancefloor and occupying all of her time. _

_ The merriment was something new for me — pureblood weddings, in my limited experience, had always been so prim and proper. I was sure my mother would've scoffed at this wedding, but I loved it. Everyone was genuinely having a good time. _

_ And then the Patronus burst in, and Granger quickly rounded all three of us up, Apparating away and into Muggle London. _

— — —

She didn't disappear.

When my eyes opened again, her face was so close to mine that we were sharing air and I could see individual flecks of gold in her eyes.

"Kiss me, Draco," she whispered.

Her voice was so sweet that I couldn't resist.

I gave in and tentatively touched my lips to hers, briefly at first, and then she pulled me flush against her and deepened it, her tongue stroking over my lips. When I opened my mouth for her, she kissed me like she had been starving, craving this for so long.

I groaned and lifted her so she didn't have to stand on her toes, and she smiled against my lips. I could feel it. My slip earlier had been correct — she fit perfectly in my arms.

— — —

_ "What did you bring him for?" Weasley exploded with rage. "We don't fucking need him, of all people!" _

_ Granger stood her ground, glaring at him. _

_ "I need him, Ronald, unless you've suddenly got insider knowledge about the Death Eaters and their estates," she hissed, coming to my defense yet again. _

_ He backed down almost immediately, knowing she was right. I did have knowledge that no one else would. Looking between Granger and me, he said, "You stay away from her, Malfoy. Just because she's willing to defend you doesn't mean she's your friend. Or anything more." _

_ The more was said with emphasis, and she frowned like the thought had never occurred to her before. _

_ "We are friends, Ronald," she stated. "If you'd bothered to notice me all summer, you would've realized Draco and I have been researching together." _

_ So we were friends. _

_ And she had started thinking about the 'anything more' part when he'd said it. _

— — —

When we finally broke apart, Granger licked her lips before she spoke. "So…"

"So," I repeated, setting her on her feet. "That was quite the surprise."

She laughed. "Well, Happy Christmas, Draco."

"Happy Christmas, Hermione."


End file.
